Nintendo has finally given players their first look at the LEGO Animal Crossing collaboration.
The highly anticipated LEGO set has now been revealed to Animal Crossing and LEGO fans on X. The teaser depicts longtime favorite characters Tom Nook, Isabelle and Kapp’n as well as popular villagers Rosie, Bunnie, Marshall, Fauna and Julian. The background is filled with LEGO blocks made to look like trees and flowers from the game, and the animal figures watch as a balloon gift floats through the sky. Prior to the official LEGO Animal Crossing set’s release, plenty of fan-made sets had been submitted to the LEGO Ideas program, but to no avail.
The Vast Animal Crossing World
In Animal Crossing, players act as a villager living among animal neighbors. Although Animal Crossing has no singular objective to end the game, its primary goals are to befriend the animals in one’s town, catch critters on land and sea, and further develop the surroundings. The Animal Crossing franchise is one of Nintendo’s best-selling game series to date, with the first edition being released on Nintendo 64 and then redeveloped for GameCube in 2001. Since then, Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii), Wild World (DS), New Leaf (3DS) and New Horizons (Switch) have maintained a deeply loyal fan base.
Animal Crossing spin-offs and DLC have also garnered praise, such as Nintendo’s mobile version Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Happy Home Designer and Paradise, respectively. Although the spinoff options don’t necessarily offer the full range of activities as the main titles, avid players acknowledge that the items in the side-projects are at times more fun than the mainstream ones. The LEGO Animal Crossing set has yet to reveal any extra cool pieces, but rumors have run rampant on whether this box will be the only Animal Crossing set LEGO makes.
A Win and a Loss for Animal Crossing Players
Despite the massive hype for the LEGO Animal Crossing set, the news is offset by another development to Animal Crossing audiences: Nintendo announced on Oct. 4th that 3DS online would be shutting down in April 2024 except for Pokébank. This means that loyal players of Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Happy Home Designer will no longer be able to access online spaces. A major appeal for Animal Crossing is its communal aspect, especially for those looking to share town and home designs with other users. Although the 3DS is now no longer as relevant as the Nintendo Switch, the news of 3DS online shutting down is still a big blow to the game’s community, many of whom developed their love for Animal Crossing online.
The LEGO Animal Crossing set has no official release date yet.
Source: X
